Manuscript Cancellation On Penny Black?

I am no expert when it comes to manuscript cancellations, but this is something I believe that is so hard to verify. It is certainly uncommon to see a penny black marked in this manner but what is stopping anyone from cancelling a stamp in this manner even from that period. For the condition of the stamp (a deep horizontal crease at the centre), I won't consider this stamp to begin with, but it is interesting to see Mark Bloxham putting this up for sale at £275 as a "buy it now".

Whilst these would be easy to fake in theory, it would seem to me to be a lot of trouble to take a penny black, somehow remove any existing cancellation and apply a manuscript cancel. The ink composition would surely be impossible to replicate?

I'd back Mark Bloxham in a heartbeat but anyone buying this item would need to read the PO regulations for the period. I know that New South Wales as late as 1886 had a regulation allowing for the cancellation of stamps in this manner under certain circumstances.

I agree that Bloxham is 100% legitimate and wouldn't risk his reputation selling something which is dubious (read, faked, contrived, etc.). The destination is Thurso in the far north of Scotland, so it is possible that the letter originated somewhere where no canceller was available. The cover and stamp aren't in good condition, so you're paying for curiosity value.

I do see traces of red on the head (possibly cancelled by a red Maltese cross), do you guys see it?

I don't see that, personally. Possibly this is some damage along the horizontal crease? Note that the "red" is on top of the black MS mark. This could not be the case if the black cross was placed on top of a red cancellation.

The red pigment is visible at the neck area where I circled. It isn't on top of the black manuscript, the manuscript allows the underlying colour to show as you can see from the lighter black tone at the facial area. This could be a genuine article, but I suspect the poster of the letter probably reused the stamp after washing away the red Maltese cross which is not uncommon during that period.

Ther is some red pigment over certain areas in this stamp...

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Hip stamp lot:

Perf12, how did you manage to get such a clear scan? I was simply relying on my eyesight.

pennyblackie: You have good eyes! I just adjusted color filters with
microsoft picture manager...
It's possible that the stamp was alredy creased;thus of little value.Then the forger removed the red cross and applied it too an old letter.The only way too make it "Authentic" would be by a manuscript cancel.Then the forger made a crease in the upper portion of the cover
in line with the stamps crease.I don't know why there is a crease in that portion of the cover.If you look on the back of the cover you can see that the wax seal emplacement is correct with the cut-out portion.

The top portion could have been folded to fit into a small purse or pocket. However if this is the work of a forger, then creating a fold in the letter to go with the stamp makes sense.

You better get a cert for this one

Hedgehog, No way I will even consider this. I posted this for discussion as I find it interesting that it is coming from Mark Bloxham.